08/14/2014

The incredible career of Cowboys $afety Matt Johnson

OXNARD, Calif. - Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said this morning that safety Matt Johnson is going back to Dallas to have his back checked to determine if there is any correlation between that and his bum hamstring.

"Just trying to turn over all the rocks," Garrett said.

Like you, I did not realize Matt Johnson was still with the Cowboys.Like many of you, I wonder why Matt Johnson is still with the Cowboys.

Safety is obviously a position of need for the Cowboys, but at this point keeping this player around serves more comic relief than it does any relief on the playing field.

Here are Johnson's highlights:

* Drafted with the 135th overall pick (fourth round) in the 2012 NFL draft out of Eastern Washington University.

* In 2012, he suffered a hamstring injury during training camp. He was inactive for the first five games of the season, hurt his hamstring again, was inactive for another four games, and was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 17.

* In 2013, he didn't make it too far. Johnson was placed on injured reserve on Aug. 31 with an ankle injury.

* In 2014, Johnson suffered another hamstring injury roughly one week into camp. He has not been able to practice since.

Here is the best part: As a rookie, Johnson signed a four-year, $2.4 million deal with a signing bonus of $300,584. His base salaries in 2012 and 2013 add up to a little less than $700,000.In two seasons Johnson has three injuries, played in no games, and made just about $1 million.

Comments

He is very talented and I think the bigger question is why does the cowboys suffer twice as many hamstring injuries as any other team in the nfl. The reason they keep him is He is very talented, he runs a 4.4 40 and hits like roy Williams. He will be a probowl safety. If not for the cowboys, some other team